Fox Partner
by Tempest S
Summary: When an assassination attempt on newborn Naruto fails, he's raised by fox demons and trained by Kyubbi until he's found by an unusual Inuzuka who takes him as her animal partner.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Naruto or any of the characters from it. If I did, Sasuke would loose the attitude and arragence, Sakura would loose the fan girl attitude and actually be useful and loose her loud mouth and abusive ways, and Gaara and sibling would move to Konoha.

Naruto is going to be OOC because he's not going to grow up the same as he did in the real story. My story starts out totally different for his life aside from Kyubi. His upbringing had a big hand in how he turned out so of course he's going to be different.

You don't like my story or think it's a stupid idea then stop reading. I'm writing this because the idea wouldn't go away and leave me alone. Hopefully by starting it I'll get some peace.

* * *

Flames licked the sky as the remains of buildings blackened and crumbled. Rubble littered the ground burying bodies in the bigger piles. Shinobi raced through the destruction trying to put out the fires and save those they could. None noticed the dark figure that approached the sleeping baby that lay on the ground by the deceased Hokage.

Cold eyes observed the infant, taking in the whisker marks and the seal on its belly. Calculations quickly ran through his mind to determine the best course of action. Deciding the child was too dangerous to his plans he snapped his fingers, calling one of his ROOT to him.

"Take it away and dispose of it. Quietly. When you're done take your own life" was the emotionless order. While it was regretful that the child wouldn't be used to further his own power, it was too big a risk that Sarutobi would deny him that path. His rival was too soft and sentimental to allow the child to be made into a weapon, no matter how powerful it would make Konoha. If **he** were Hokage then the child would be raised with ROOT training and made into the perfect weapon. What a waste. It was a shame about the ROOT member too but he couldn't leave any loose ends. Even ROOT operatives weren't completely safe from jutsu that enter the mind to gather information.

The kneeling shinobi bowed his head and leapt into action, quickly scooping up the baby and disappearing. Danzo looked around to ensure no one was watching before he too disappeared leaving not a trace. He had left in the nick of time for not even minutes after, the Third Hokage appeared with Jiraiya.

Sarutobi's sad look quickly transformed into a worried frown as he saw Minato's body but no baby. Hurrying to the cooling body he shifted it onto its back to see if it was hiding the baby from view. Not finding it near the body he quickly began searching the immediate area as his eyes grew wider with no baby being revealed.

"Where is it?" he demanded as if he expected the very air to answer him.

"Where's what?" Jiraiya asked too lost in his grief to notice what was missing.

"The baby! Where's the baby?"

That quickly snapped him out of his grief as he to began searching for his absent godchild. Their search became frantic as realized that with every place they looked the child wasn't there. Their friend and saviors child was gone and they didn't even know what could have happened to him.

"Baby's don't just disappear into thin air, damn it! Where could he be?" a worried and frustrated Hokage asked.

"Someone must have taken him. They had to have been near the front lines because it didn't take us but a few minutes to get here and we were near the back" a disheartened Jiraiya thought out loud. He felt like a failure. His student saves the village by sacrificing his own life and his son's body and now he's lost the boy. Some godfather he was turning out to be. "Do you think it could have been Iwa? If they found out about Minato's son….." he couldn't finish the sentence. He'd been a godfather less then a day and already he might not have a godson any longer.

"No. No one but us and Tsunade know that Kushina was pregnant with Minato's child."

"So then who could have taken him?"

"I don't know. I have my suspicions but no proof and I doubt I ever will have proof" a sad Sarutobi answered.

"So what do we do? People are going to wonder what happened to the child Minato used, even if they don't know it was his own son."

"We tell them that the child is dead" was his reply.

"But.."

"We don't know if he is or not but the people will want to be reassured. If they knew there was a chance that he was alive then they may look for him to make sure that he dies. At least this way if he is alive no one will look for him to finish him off. If someone does discover that he was Minato's son and Iwa hears of it, this way they'll believe he's dead too and wont go after him if he survives. I know this is hard on you but it's better this way. This way we have hope that he is alive and that he's protected if he is. At least as protected as we can make him in this situation."

Jiraiya knew his sensei was being logical. As much as it pained him to admit it, it was better this way. There was little chance of them ever finding the boy if the people who took him planned to let him live. If the boy was saved then it was better that people think him dead. Jiraiya knew Jinchuriki weren't treated well. It would be better if no one knew the boy was one. He could only hope that Naruto was safe and being looked after.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A small form crouched on a tree limb, hidden by the shadows the leaves cast, frozen as it waited for its target to get closer. Two lilac eyes narrowed in concentration waiting for just the right moment to strike. Just a few more steps and then wait for it to look the other way.

_Almost there. Just a little more. Now!_ The little fox leapt from its perch arrowing down at the larger fox who was turned away. Faster then a striking snake the large fox twisted around and grabbed the fox kit in midair.

"Aww. Dad! No fair!" the kit whined.

The large fox just chuckled. "It's as fair as can be. You had plenty of time to hide and plan."

The young fox just pouted. "How'd you know I was there?"

"I heard your breathing. Your excitement caused you to breath heavier. Plus I could smell you. The wind was on my side" he explained to his son.

"I didn't see your ears move."

"The hunter shouldn't reveal he knows where the prey is."

The young fox thought on his fathers words. It was a very smart move. He'd have to remember it when he started going out on his own. You could never know too many tricks.

"So what are we going to do now?" he asked once he was done thinking.

"Now we go home. Your mother will be wondering if something happened."

"Aww! But…"

"No buts. You know how she worries" was the firm reply.

A sigh was his only answer.

"It's not so bad, Kit. It's almost time for your lessons with your mother."

That perked him up. His mothers lessons were just as fun as his fathers were. While his father taught him to hunt and hide and use his physical senses, his mother taught his mind. It might be strange that a fox, even a demon fox, would know human concepts like reading, writing, and math but the couple knew their son was special and would eventually need that knowledge so Mother took it upon herself to learn so that she in turn could teach her son. There were a few close calls when it came to spying on the students but she always made it out.

That village really hated foxes. Perhaps it would be better for them to move. It made her edgy being so close to the village that tried to kill her son. Granted it was only one man but she recognized that uniform. Only the top shinobi wore armor like that and they were closely monitored so it was unlikely that man had been working on his own. He was most likely following orders which meant those humans were a danger to her son and not to be trusted.

She had tried to instill that distrust into her son and yet try to make him see that not all humans were bad at the same time. She knew not all of the humans there were bad but she wasn't sure if her son would be able to tell the difference between those who were trustable and those who only appeared to be trustable. In the short run it might be better to make him mistrust all humans but in the long run it would hurt him. He was human in mind and spirit even if he did have the form of a fox now. Eventually he would rejoin humanity or leave it completely behind.

She was distracted from her upsetting thoughts by the arrival of her mate and son. They looked so cute with her son riding on her mates back using chakra to stay on. Amazing that he could do that at his age.

Her mate comically dropped to the ground panting like he had just ran around the village at tope speed.

"Oh you're getting to heavy for that" he groaned. "Must be eating too much."

"No I'm not! I haven't put on any weight. I'm the same size I've always been" the little fox protested.

His father looked at him teasingly. "Which means you're still a shrimp."

Kit glared at his father. "Well if I'm a shrimp then you must just be getting old if you have so much trouble carrying me."

Father narrowed his eyes at him. "Brat."

"Old fox."

"Enough" Mother said in an even voice that instantly shut them up. They knew better than to make her have to yell. Nothing scarier than an angry woman. "Come on, Kit. Time for **my** lessons."

Kit stuck his tongue out at his father when his mother turned around and started walking away. Father mock growled and swatted at him. He just ducked under the paw aimed at him and ran after his mother, his tail waving triumphantly behind him.

* * *

I'm not really sure how this chapter turned out. I wanted to show that they were a close family because that's going to be a key factor in the future. Something's going to happen to Naruto's parents that split them apart and make it harder for Naruto to trust humans. Next chapter explains more about Naruto a.k.a. Kit.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Following his mother away from their den and along a concealed trail Kit wondered what the day's lesson would be. Math was complicated with all its rules. How can a negative times a negative make a positive? There's just no way something could be made from nothing. Writing was frustrating. A foxes paws just weren't meant for writing. His tail was much easier to use but Mother wanted him to learn to use his paws. Reading was by far his favorite subject so far. He loved reading about the different countries and their hidden villages but the best was reading about Konoha and the Hokages. Maybe he was biased because he lived near the Village Hidden in the Leaves but he thought it was the greatest of all. Just look at all their legendary kages.

Filled with excitement at the thought of a reading lesson Kit sped up and passed his mother as they entered a glade near the edge of the forest. While it was dangerous being so near Konoha Mother didn't want Kit to be so afraid of humans that he wouldn't go anywhere near them. Caution was good but outright fear of all things human would hinder him. After all humans did have some value. It just depended on the human.

Sitting down in the sunlight Mother waited while Kit retrieved his school books from the bottom of a hollowed out tree. It was quite easy to steal them Humans were so careless with their possessions sometimes. They just left them lying out in the open where anyone could take them. That was one of their values. Granted there wasn't much that a fox would want to steal from a human besides food.

After fetching the text books Kit sat expectantly in front of his mother waiting for her to tell him today's lesson plan. _Please let it be reading. Please let it be reading._

Noticing the hopeful look in her son's eyes Mother decided to play with him. "What should we do today? Writing? Your s' are horrible. How about math? You need to work on dividing." Kit's ears sank lower and lower with each sentence. "Then again those who ignore history are cursed to repeat it." His ears immediately sprang back up at that. Mother laughed at his predictable reactions. "Reading it is then."

"Yes!" was Kit's happy response as he threw his head up in victory. (Most people throw their arms up as well when they do this but he's a fox so his arms don't move the same way to allow that.)

"What chapter are we on?"

"Um..." Kit squinted his eyes in thought. "I think we were to the Third Great Shinobi War."

"Alright. Find the page and start reading out loud" said Mother as she settled back to observe her son. She wondered what his life would be like. She was under no illusions. She knew her son wasn't normal and that he would most likely out live her and her mate, barring any accidents. He wasn't growing normally. Although he was several years old he only had the form of a few months old fox kit. They speculated that since he was originally human, his fox body was growing at a human rate. It would be several more years before he reached adult form.

What would happen to her son when his parents were no longer around? Would he rejoin the humans? Would he shun all humanity for the deep forests and mountains? Who would keep him company? As a mother she worried for her son's future.

Shaking the somber thoughts from her head she turned her attention back to her son only to discover him looking at her with his head cocked. If foxes could blush she would be faintly red under her fur. She hadn't heard a word of what her son had read.

"Mother?"

* * *

This chapter was to show the bond between Kit and Mother as well as tell why Kit is still so small even though he's several years old and should be fully grown. I always wondered why Akamaru didn't grow any in the Naruto series even though there must have been months between becoming genning and the chunnin exams. With the size he grew to after Naruto returns from training then he should have grown pretty fast to reach that massive size and yet we only ever saw him at two sizes. Small enough to fit on Kiba's head and big enough for Kiba to ride. Anyways this chapter also has a little bit of foreshadowing in it.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"I'm sorry, honey, I didn't hear a word you just read. My thoughts distracted me," Mother honestly answered.

"What were you thinking about?" Kit asked curiously.

"Oh, just the future."

"The future? Why were you thinking about that?"

"It's a parents job to worry about their child's future."

"What's there to worry about? The future will come no matter what anyone does to try to stop it," was Kit's wise reply to that statement.

Mother chuckled at her son's smartness. "True but it's not the future itself that I worry about. It's what that future might bring."

"What's it gonna bring?" an excited Kit asked.

"That's what I don't know and worry about," Mother replied.

"I don't understand," Kit said as his ears went down slightly.

Mother sighed. "The future may be a bright happy one but there's just as much chance that it will be a sad one as well. I want you to always remember this, Kit. No matter how happy it is, the future will always have some sadness in it. Sadness is a part of life and, while it hurts, it also helps us grow. But, just as there is always sadness, there will always be happiness to if you don't allow the sadness to consume you and you look for happiness. I want you to promise me that no matter what the future brings or what sadness you encounter in your life, you wont let sad things destroy your happiness. It's okay to be sad at times, just don't let it take over your life. Look for the good that still exists and always remember, your father and I love you more than anything and we always will."

"Why would I forget that? You and father always tell me that you love me," a puzzled Kit wondered.

"Your father and I wont always be here, Kit. As much as we'd love to be with you forever, that's not the way the world works. Eventually you'll be on your own. All kits grow up and leave their parents," she replied, leaving out that sometimes the parents were taken from the kits by violence.

"Well I'm never gonna leave!," he declared emphatically.

Mother laughed at his declaration, forgetting all about her worries of the future. Her son was just too cute to be sad around. What will be, will be.

* * *

Yes, this was another short chapter. I updated because a Fox named Rose asked so nicely. Again short but I'm working up to something actually happening. Just have to lay the ground work. If you can't tell yet what's going to happen then you could probably ask one of the other people reading this and they could tell you.


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